Silence by Shusaku Endō

Silence by Shusaku Endō

Available now in paperback

Seventeenth-century Japan: Two Portuguese Jesuit priests travel to a country hostile to their religion, where feudal lords force the faithful to publicly renounce their beliefs. Eventually captured and forced to watch their Japanese Christian brothers lay down their lives for their faith, the priests bear witness to unimaginable cruelties that test their own beliefs. Shusaku Endō is one of the most celebrated and well-known Japanese fiction writers of the twentieth century, and Silence is widely considered to be his great masterpiece.

You can purchase the Picador Modern Classics edition of Silence at any of the following retailers:

You can purchase the movie tie-in edition of Silence at any of the following retailers:

Watch the Trailer

Silence opens in New York and Los Angeles in December and nationwide in January 2017

Martin Scorsese’s SILENCE tells the story of two Christian missionaries (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) who face the ultimate test of faith when they travel to Japan in search of their missing mentor (Liam Neeson) – at a time when Christianity was outlawed and their presence forbidden. The celebrated director's 28-year journey to bring Shusaku Endo’s 1966 acclaimed novel to life will be in theaters this Christmas.

I read Endō first as a high school student, and then went back to him when I returned from Iraq, since so many of the
questions he deals with—suffering, guilt, and empathy in a world which sometimes offers us few options to act in a way
that feels righteous or pure—were very much on my mind.

– Phil Klay, author of Redeployment, Winner of the 2014 National Book Award

All of Endō’s work has been influential. He truly understands what it means to be both of—and not of—a place.

– Caryl Phillips, Guggenheim Fellow and the Award-Winning Author of The Lost Child

In many ways, Boxers & Saints is a response to Silence. It’s me wrestling with the questions that Endō posed. Silence was in the back of my mind the whole time I was working. When I got stuck, I would close my eyes and ask for Endō’s intercession.

– Gene Luen Yang, author of the National Book Award finalist, Boxers & Saints, and the 2016 Library of Congress ambassador for Young People’s Literature

Download the Reading Guide

The reading guide for Silence features more information about the book, questions and topics for discussion, interviews with prominent authors about Endō’s influence on their own works, recommended further reading, and more! Download it now.